You missed one...marketing. Sure you need the things listed above in the haunted house but as I have read "what use is having the best scare in the world if no one sees it." Another one that probably is more important than marketing is having a good business plan. A haunt is a business after all. "if you fail to plan then you plan to fail" is another quote I've read. Sure I don't own a haunt or work in one but this is just the stuff that I have learned from all the haunt proffessionals on this website and I'm sure they'd tell you the same thing.

I picked actors from the list because they are the lifes blood of the house. You could have the best of eveything in your haunt but a bad actor can kill all of that. On the other hand maybe the props are not the best and the sound could be better and the lighting needs to be adjusted, a great actor is what they will remember. Don't get me wrong you want to make everything the best you can and you should but sometimes it's not in the cards (read money into that) always go with the great actor.

Awww man that sounds beautiful! no props....2 strobes, 2 fogs, and a blacklight - i love it. Sounds like me a few years ago. I wsh I could go back in time to where a blacklight made me happy,,, to where a bloody hand on the ground was my main prop.

Hey Mr. Guest you have a fun adventure of learning ahead of you....if your grabbed already, this journey will never end. I feel like your being born right now :twisted: Hah your probly like "uhh actually I just wanna put up a few decorations for halloween this year buddy, calm down"....no but YA your being born :twisted:

aww your gonna have way too much fun, is this your first year trying to haunt on this kind of level? not even fair dude

Are you doing a yard display or a structured haunted house?

my yellow in this case is not so mellow, infact I'm tryin to say, its frightened like me

OK. This is a scene I thought up for my haunted house this year: The people walk into this room where its pitch black and the door closes behind them. Next a strobe light goes on and a guy in an electric chair starts thrashing around and foaming at the mouth. Then the strobe goes off and red lights go on. Then Leatherface chases them from behind while their exit is fogged up. The people will be chased into a graveyard scene.
Does anyone know how to build a good electric chair?

This is my first year too. I have no idea what Im doing. This is what i have: 3 fogs, 2 strobes, Halloween soundtrack, 2 actors, blacklight. Im trying to build this thing in my garage. Im gonna buy a leatherface costume with chainsaw, some red lights, and possibly a pizza face. The pizza face would be my main prop besides the electric chair. Its 45$ plus shipping. www.brutalimages.net/store.htm check it out